MANY royal fans will wonder if Princess Kate will appear at Wimbledon this year, as she recovers from cancer treatment.
The Princess of Wales is usually a regular at the tennis tournament, and one particularly memorable visit was the one she did in 2019 with Meghan Markle.
The day out was supposed to be a public display of unity between Princess Kate and the Duchess of Sussex.
However, it turns out that things may not have been quite as harmonious behind the scenes.
The relationship between the Sussexes and Prince William and Kate was said to be strained at the time.
Prince Harry detailed in Spare how Kate allegedly made Meghan cry over the bridesmaid dresses at the wedding.
Despite any smiles at Wimbledon, tension was apparent during the visit, a year after their first appearance in 2018.
Body language expert Judi James told Fabulous:“For their ‘denial’ appearance in 2019, Meghan was placed in a Middleton ‘sandwich’, sitting between Kate and her sister Pippa.
“As a public signal of intent, it seemed to imply that Meghan had cracked the sister group to be shown as the third sister and therefore very much part of the family.
“It also meant both Kate and Pippa would be seen dancing their attention on Meghan who, in the middle seat, would look very much like the honoured sister-in-law, hosted by both.
“Meghan would often be photographed looking ahead.
“Pippa appeared to be able to put more ‘carefree’ effort into her chats with Meghan, although even during some of their chats Meghan was seen touching her neck, implying some awkwardness, or with one arm around her own torso in what looked like a barrier gesture.
“Kate, meanwhile, appeared at one point to have adopted the super-polite, non-tactile pose of standing with her hands clasped behind her back as she chatted to Meghan.”
PALACE DIVISION
Editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine shared how “as an actress”, Meghan would “never allow any member of the public to see any visible signs of a rift between her and Kate.”
However, she added: “The signs of a rift between the two high-profile women were not necessarily obvious.
“But we now know that Meghan hated being considered second best to the then Duchess of Cambridge.
“Kate had bagged the number one man whereas Meghan only had the ‘spare’ son in Prince Harry.”
Ingrid continued: “Kate tried to get along with Meghan.
“Harry had been part of their little Kensington Palace family and Kate knew he wanted to be married.
“She also longed for him to be happy.”
Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton's rift
ROYAL expert Camilla Tominey has given her take on the situation and lifted the lid on where she thinks it all went so wrong for William and Harry’s wives.
It’s claimed that when Kate and William first met Meghan in 2016, they didn’t get off to the best start.
Camilla wrote: “In truth, there had been a degree of frisson almost as soon as Meghan officially arrived on the royal scene in 2016 to a lukewarm reception from “formal” William and Kate, who as well as finding her “a little full on”, had no idea she would be a keeper, having met a succession of Harry’s girlfriends.”
While Harry wrote in his memoir Spare that when he brought Meghan around to meet his brother and sister-in-law, Kate remained in the garden playing with the children instead of greeting her.
There were wider issues at play, and Camilla claimed that “The Prince and Princess of Wales may well have been influenced by mutual friends raising concerns following a shooting party at Sandringham.”
According to reports – which have also been covered in Tom Bower’s book Revenge, Meghan and Harry attended a party with 16 guests when talk turned to former US president Donald Trump and his imminent election.
Tom wrote: “Without hesitation, Meghan challenged every guest whose conversation contravened her values.
“Beyond Harry’s hearing, some friends questioned Meghan’s supposed “wokery”. Meghan was a dampener on the party, they concluded.”
Other outside parties could have played their part, and things allegedly came to another head when Kate’s younger sister Pippa Middleton failed to invite Harry and Meghan to her big day.
Speaking about the situation involving Pippa, who tied the knot with James Matthews in May 2017, Camilla said: “The Sussexes were then upset when Pippa declined to invite them to her wedding to James Matthews in May 2017, perhaps fearing she would be upstaged by Harry’s new girlfriend.
“She later relented and invited them to the evening reception “to keep the peace”.
“According to Harry in Spare, William and Kate then took exception to the couple moving the name places at the table – before being accused of doing the same when the Sussexes got married.”
MEGHAN’S CONFESSION
Meghan even opened up about the Wimbledon day in her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.
In the 2021 chat, Oprah asked Meghan: “Did you feel welcomed by everyone? It seemed like you and Kate… at the Wimbledon game where you were going to watch a friend play tennis…
“Was it what it looked like? You are two sisters-in-law out there in the world, getting to know each other.
“Was she helping you, embracing you into the family, helping you adjust?”
Meghan answered: “I think everyone welcomed me.
Pippa appeared to be able to put more ‘carefree’ effort into her chats with Meghan, although even during some of their chats Meghan was seen touching her neck, implying some awkwardness, or with one arm around her own torso in what looked like a barrier gesture
Judi James
“When you say, ‘Was it what it looked like?’, my understanding and my experience of the past four years is, it’s nothing like what it looks like.
“It’s nothing like what it looks like.”
She added that she “couldn’t have been lonelier” at the time of being in the royal family.
Days after their Wimbledon trip, Meghan and Kate were seen at a charity polo match.
However, according to royal biography Finding Freedom, the pair had a “cordial but distant rapport.”
The book said: “While the doting mothers were photographed next to each other with their children, the two appeared to barely exchange a word.”
Less than a year later in January 2020, Meghan and Harry announced they were stepping back as senior working royals.
They now live in Santa Barbara with their two kids, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.
KATE’S RECOVERY
Kate has understandably taken a step back from public duties as she undergoes her cancer treatment.
AELTC chair Debbie Jevans had earlier confirmed they are “staying flexible” over who will present trophies to the Wimbledon champions this year.
Traditionally Kate does the honour, in her role as patron of the group.
Debbie told Telegraph Sport: “We’re hopeful that the Princess of Wales will be able to present the trophies as the Club’s patron, but her health and recovery is the priority.
“We don’t know what we don’t know. All we’ve said is that we’ll work with her and give her as much flexibility as possible.”
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